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Mel-O-Toons: Hansel
Mel-O-Toons, sometimes erroneously spelled Mello Toons, was a series of animated cartoons produced beginning in 1959 by New World Productions (not to be confused with the production company founded by Roger Corman) and syndicated by United Artists.1 It featured various folk tales, Greco-Roman myths, Biblical stories, classic literary adaptations, even adaptations of classical music and ballet. The soundtracks were often taken from existing children's records, licensed from the original labels, such as RCA Records and Capitol Records. 104 cartoons, each about 6 minutes long, were produced in limited animation. Hansel & Gretel Hansel and Gretel decide to go out into the forest to pick strawberries, dropping breadcrumbs as they go so they won't lose their way. But, soon they meet a gold-haired man calling himself the sandman and find a house made of candy. Synopsis Hansel and Gretel live in the forest with their mother and father. The family is poor but Hansel and Gretel are always cheerful. Gretel likes to try and teach Hansel how to dance. One afternoon they are playing while their parents are away and become hungry. They decide to go into the woods to hunt for strawberries. The drop breadcrumbs behind them to make a trail back to their home so they wont become lost. In the woods they see a strange man with golden hair and red cheeks. The man vanished and they become scared. Planning to go back home they find a bluebird has eaten their breadcrumbs. They become upset and realize it will soon be nighttime. Suddenly the strange man appears again. He is the sandman and tells them it is time to go to sleep. He sprinkles hem with sand and they fall asleep. When they awake in the morning they see a house made of candy and other sweets. They are very hungry and decide to nibble on the house. Suddenly, a witch appears at the front door and cast a spell on the children. Neither can move. The witch uses her house to lure naughty children to their doom. After casting a spell she locks them in a cage and fattens them up. When they are fat enough to suit her she then bakes them in her oven into tasty treats and eats them. The witch thinks Hansel looks delicious and plans to bake him into a pie. The witch locked up Hansel and made him eat very often to ensure he became plump and round. She would check how fat he was getting by asking to feel his finger but Hansel would stick out a piece of wood instead to fool her. Gretel comes up with a plan to fool the witch and escape. Gretel will tell the witch Hansel is fat enough to be baked into a pie right now. Hansel becomes upset but Gretel tell Hansel to trust her. When the witch returns Gretel lights the oven and tells the witch Hansel is ready for cooking and to take Hansel from his cage. This excites the witch and she takes Hansel from the cage. Hansel is very frightened when he sees how hot the oven is, knowing he is about to be put inside and left to bake. Gretel tells the witch something is wrong with the oven and ask the witch to look inside. The witch looks into the oven and Hansel and Gretel push her inside. The witch goes up in smoke and disappears forever. Suddenly the house begins to glow and the candy turns into other children, all of whom had been caught and cooked by the witch. The bluebird who had eaten the breadcrumbs appears and, along with the other children, escort Hansel and Gretel home. They take with them food and jewels from the witch's home. The family are never poor again and live happily ever after.